It was great after class to hit up the Beefeater spa. The gin company was treating everyone to massages, tea and Beefeater punch.

Jameson Black Barrel

I went over to Circa 33 to check out the Dead Rabbit bartenders. There was an event for Jameson Black Barrel. They served great BBQ and poured Irish Whiskey drinks. I had a simple Jameson Black & Stormy and I also tried it neat. It’s a little bit richer (better mouth feel) but not smokey or crazy overproof as other “Black” whiskies imply.

After that, I hit up the Bacardi Masquerade where fire breathers and other performers walked around on stilts. I had a El Presidente, one of my favorite rum cocktails.

Can you believe I still managed to get late night eats and drinks after that? We went to Punch Bowl Social Club. I can’t believe I had energy either.

I really loved that Portland Cocktail Week provided transportation to and from events. St. George Spirits sponsored the bus to the bar take-overs that evening. Pictured is Andie Ferman with St. George checking a passenger’s pulse. We also had fun jello shots in syringe form.

Gabe from Miami’s Broken Shaker at Oven & Shaker

The boys from Broken Shaker in Miami took over Portland’s Oven and Shaker. I think they were going for just the name alone as Oven and Shaker doesn’t really look like Broken Shaker but hey, we’re not nitpicking. Not when the cocktails are so good. Everyone was going nuts for the Cocoa Puffs Rum Old Fashioned. They infused the cereal into Bacardi 8 rum.

Broken Paloma

I had the Broken Paloma with Corzo reposado tequila, ancho chile and arbor chile reduction, lime and grapefruit soda.

Monkey Pod at Hale Pele

Tim Rita, Jr. from Monkeypod in Hawaii took over Portland’s Hale Pele. I haven’t been to Hawaii but I have had Tim’s drinks before. He handed me something as soon as I walked in and it was a great tiki drink. We had time to sit in a booth for a bit but in order to get to all the bars, we had to move fairly quickly. I’m definitely coming back to Hale Pele the next time I’m in Portland to explore more tiki drinks.

Scott from Trick Dog/ the Bon Vivants at Interurban

Despite San Francisco being only an hour flight away from Los Angeles, I still haven’t made it to the instantly famous Trick Dog. They came up with the Pantone menu everyone talked about until they started doing menus with record sleeves. I hope to get to Bon Vivants-run bar later in December but until then, I was glad I checked out their bar take over of Interuban. When I was there for That Time of the Month a couple days previously, it seemed so tiny. Luckily, I was able to get to the bar much more quickly and absconded with a pumpkin filled with punch to the patio before it got crowded.

Trick Dog’s pumpkin punch

It took a few of us including a couple of newfound friends we made on the patio to finish this smallish pumpkin o’ punch. I approve of this being a vessel for booze. So festive.